We are currently living in a digital age, where it is possible for companies to go completely paperless. Documents can now be read, shared and edited on a computer. A paperless office not only benefits the environment, it can save on capital, improved security and simplify the workflow. Below are some reasons why you should become paperless.
Easy access to information:
Getting hold of paper documents can be very time consuming, searching through paper files and filing cabinets. A typical employee spends 30-40% of time looking through documents in filing cabinets and 11% of all paper documents are lost or misfiled. When becoming paperless and using a document management system, it takes just seconds to access your electronic documents. With the use of a document management system, collaboration tools have made it possible for people to work on the same document at the same time, no matter where they are located. Offering quicker and easier access to information, document management systems also help to automate workflows and greatly reduce reliance on manual intervention.
Improved security:
Going paperless allows for much better security over your business data, although this does depend on the system you use for storing confidential information. Paper documents are subject to two risks: physical theft and destruction from a variety of disasters (fire, flood, etc). When you scan confidential documents, you can restrict access to them. For example, you can limit the access of sensitive information or specific case files to select people. The paperless approach is also better for disaster recovery, since it allows you to easily store multiple digital copies of your data in physical locations. If disaster strikes at your workplace, your business applications and data will be unaffected, provided they are hosted to the cloud.
Automatic data capture:
With digital workflows come automation, using web-based forms to collect and exchange information not only speeds up the process, but improves data quality. Going paperless makes it easier to capture data automatically. For example, you can use forms to collect and share information while improving data quality. Digitally captured data is more reliable and means access to better information, faster turnaround and lower costs because pre-printed forms and mailing expenses can be eliminated. In addition, inbound data can be integrated with back-end applications, and custom forms or documents can be generated from applications automatically, eliminating manual processing.
Increased productivity:
With paper documents, the amount of time it takes you and your team to manage, maintain and process the documents can be frustrating. With the use of digital technology to collect, edit and exchange information and data not only speeds up business processes, it also improves data quality and reliability. Scanning in paper documents and converting them into electronic documents provides better access to information, faster turnaround times and lower costs due to the elimination of form printing and mailing expenses. With the use of electronic management systems, it provides a universal place for documents to be stored, allowing authorised users to search for documents easier and efficiently. Whereas with paper documents, searching through filing cabinets and documents can be time consuming, which is bad as time means money.
Improved customer service:
Using digital documents enable businesses to help and deal with customer service issues far more effectively, creating a more responsive customer service process. A digital document management system allows businesses to access customer data and retrieve information such as invoices, customer orders and documents quickly, allowing the business to proactively provide customer service and respond to enquiries faster.
Fewer expenses:
Paper documents require a lot of money to maintain. It’s not only products such as paper, ink, toner and printers, it’s also the expenses of filing cabinets and onsite storage. Once all the costs are put together and added up, it can be very expensive. Buying a scanner from our sister company Scanner Superstore would greatly reduce these costs, as you can now scan in the documents you have around your office, uploading them to the cloud or a document management system. Therefore, saving you space and costs, allowing you to redirect funds towards more important areas of your company.
Document Management Systems:
We offer Document management systems, a digital filing cabinet. Allowing you to manage and control all your information and documents in a secure and central location. It is the electronic images of paper-based information captured through the use of a document scanner. Document management systems show how your organisation stores, manages and tracks electronic documents. Here are the two most popular systems we offer:
FileDirector:
FileDirector brings the future of company management and data distribution into today’s world. This Electronic Content Management solution shortens the time required to organise and handle documents within an enterprise, enormously. This noticeably more productive and more efficient way of working reduces costs significantly.
Scan and Upload: Capturing information is a very quick process using FileDirector. Scanning was never easier, using pre-definable scan profiles. FileDirector records electronic documents as flexibly and quickly as paper documents. The particular format and source are not an issue and thanks to the included integration with Microsoft Office, you and your staff can archive documents, tables and emails with a simple mouse-click
Sort and Index: Indexing and sorting documents is handled manually or via OCR (Optical Character Recognition) zones in the document, via full text or barcodes. Index data can be imported via ODBC from other databases or files or transferred automatically when importing or recording.
Search and Retrieve: FileDirector leaves you free to decide how to conduct your keyword search. You can use the defined index fields to search for information you need, either within an entire filing cabinet or within a given document type. You can also use full text search to locate the documents you need via their content.
Thanks to its extensive range of functions, FileDirector meets all your document management requirements – today and tomorrow. Ease of use, scalability and a wealth of expandable components make FileDirector the perfect partner for businesses of all sizes.
The benefits of an intelligent document management system are self-evident, for instance, improved efficiency: documents are located, stored and distributed more quickly. What’s more, staff do not waste time or money on duplicating or distributing documents. Digitising avoids all these unnecessary steps and gives your staff more time to concentrate on the essentials. On top of this, document storage costs are reduced because a considerably smaller storage area is required.
ScanFile:
ScanFile V10 redefines one of the most popular and easy-to-use document management solutions with a raft of new functions. ScanFile V10 is a flexible, robust and proven platform for archiving, indexing and searching your documents.
Activity report
Intuitive security concept
Full text and zonal OCR
Barcode and form recognition
MS Office integration
Based on .NET 4.5
ScanFile V10 peps up one of the most popular and easy-to-use document management solutions with a raft of new functions. ScanFile V10 is a flexible, robust and proven platform for archiving, indexing and searching your documents.
ScanFile V10 supports practically all commercially available black and white and colour scanners by providing a TWAIN interface and additionally, offers a wide range of document scanner drivers, out the box. There are wide-ranging functions for handling electronic documents such as Word or Excel files. Moreover, thanks to its Microsoft Office integration, you can initiate this directly from ScanFile
A clever feature is that ScanFile V10 was developed as a modular product, so you only need to purchase the modules you will actually use. But this modular design involves no sacrifice in terms of ergonomics: you can perform all tasks from the same application.
To find out how using a document management system can help you go paperless, please call us on 01785 785 650 to chat to one of our experts.
Comments